Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca Latreille, 1802
Order: Decapoda Latreille, 1802
Family: Penaeidae Rafinesque, 1815
Metapenaeopsis difficilis Crosnier, 1991
Voucher No.: CMLRE IO/SS/DEN/00055
Description: Rostrum dorsal margin with seven teeth, ventral margin edentulate. Carapace setose, epigastric tooth at anterior 0.25 CL, antennal spine small; hepatic spine slightly larger, pterygostomian spine prominent; stridulating ridge absent. Abdominal somites I–II rounded dorsally, somite III–VI not rounded, and with prominent broad, mid-dorsal carina, flattened dorsally, with split ends posteriorly; carina on somite IV splitting widely with median deep notch. Telson slender, reaching distal end of spine on uropodal exopod, with 1 pair of large sub-apical fixed spines and 3 pairs of movable spines laterally. Thelycum with a low lobe between bases of PIII, thelycal plate between bases of PIV transversely oval, bearing minute median spine anteriorly, flanked by convex margins; intermediate zone comprising median ramp flanked by pair of apertures of seminal receptacles; transverse plate between bases of PV sinuous, with straight ends; posterior plate divided into 1 broad, low central lobe with median denticle, and 2 high lateral lobes.
Biological association: None.
Remarks: First distributional record from the Indian Ocean.
Distribution: Philippines, Indonesia, Coral Sea, New Caledonia, Marquesas Islands (French Polynesia), off Wallis and Futuna Islands and Andaman Sea, India at 124 m depth. Depth range: 21–440 m.
Distribution map:
Identified by: Vinay P. Padate
Publication: Padate V.P., Mary Baby K.A., Sherine Sonia Cubelio, Saravanane N., Sudhakar M. (2020) First records of dendrobranchiate prawns (Decapoda: Dendrobranchiata) from the Andaman Sea, India. Journal of Natural History, 54 (7–8): 405–418. DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2020.1765035
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